Polymeric bulk containers for handling and shipping materials have found increasing use with the advent of the “just-in-time” delivery philosophy. Such containers are often produced in modular, foldable, or collapsible formats. These formats allow the bulk containers to be emptied, dissembled, folded, or collapsed, and returned while taking up a minimum amount of shipping space. To further ensure that the empty containers use the minimum amount of shipping space, the dissembled, folded, or collapsed containers are stackable having regular profiles without protruding latches, hinges, or other features.
Many of these containers include a sidewall panel having an opening closeable by a hinged door or gate. The opening is provided to allow access to the container's contents when access through the top is impractical, such as when the top is covered, when the containers are stacked, or when the container is at a height where accessing the top of the container is difficult or impossible. However, several drawbacks have been encountered in connection with such hinged doors.
For instance, many times the open door does not lie flush against the remaining portion of the panel sidewall. The door may extend outwardly at an angle which causes an obstruction to entry to the container and/or to approach to the container.
In addition, portions of hinge may protrude beyond a surface of the panel, causing instability when an adjacent panel is stacked on the surface.
Yet another drawback is the complexity of the hinges designed to overcome the drawbacks described above. One such hinge includes two pivot axes. Hinges with multiple pivot axes are difficult to manufacture, difficult to assemble, the multiple pivot axes cause instability in the door. Doors attached with such hinges have a tendency to be loose and subject to damage as the multiple pivot axes do not provide a secure connection between the open door and the remaining portions of the panel.
The present invention is provided to solve the problems discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior panels of this type. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.